The Wonders of Children
by Shadow Dice
Summary: If Matthew had known that he was going to be bitten, yelled at, slapped, and tripped he would have left her out in that blizzard... /OC, other warnings inside, may become a multi-chapter/


**Shadow**: This was supposed to be a creepy yandere pairing but what was supposed to be the first part ran on for so long that I just decided to stick with it! There will be grammar mistakes further in when Emily starts talking since she can't really speak English. I think it came out well and I hope you all like it! It will most likely become a multi-chapter story but you never know! If it does become a multi-chapter story then there will probably be quite a few more OC's (they'll be provinces, there might be a few states though) and I'll try to only introduce one each chapter. If anything seems wrong with the characterization, grammar or spelling, please tell me! Oh, and it sort of gets of to a slow start which I tried to fix but it just kept coming out even worse than the one before!

**Rating**: PG for slight swearing(the word bastard).

**Pairing(s)**: I suppose Canada x OC!Manitoba could apply if you want it to be lolicon.

**Names: **Emily=Manitoba, Matthieu/Matthew=Canada, Francis=France.

**Ages: **Emily is about 8, Matthew is about 14, and Francis is in his early 20's.

**Warnings**: Slight swearing(again), human names used, and a violent kid.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Hetalia: Axis Powers.

"_Hey Mattie, you remember when we first met?"_

"_If you mean when you bit me, slapped me, and attempted to trip me, then yes, as a matter of fact I do."_

"_That last one was and accident and you know it!"_

_Late December, 1814_

Emily continued to shiver as she looked out at the plains, beginning to feel pneumonia set in. Furious winds tore at the ratty blanket she was desperately trying to retain body heat with. The flat landscape allowed cold winds from the North to easily tear across the land, bringing week long blizzards with it.

Emily kept going though, hoping a settlement would be nearby. Her moccasins continuing to fill up with more snow whenever her feet sank back down in to the knee-high snow. Face red and frostbitten, she tumbled forward when her foot caught something hidden under the snow.

Entirely to sick of trying to fight her way through what was easily the worst blizzard of the season, Emily began to throw a fit. Kicking her feet and banging her small fists in to the snow, her yells were muffled by the thick layer of snow pressing against her face.

Her kicking and screaming stopped short however, when large hands wrapped around her sides and lifted her up,

"What are you doing out in weather like this? Are you trying to turn in to an ice cube?"

Eyes now closely resembling that of a large bug Emily stared up at the blond-haired man. If she thought the blizzard still going on around them had frozen her to solid ice, it couldn't compare to the odd feeling of having those hands holding her up.

"Well... I can't just leave someone as young as you out here, I'll take you back to my house alright?"

The man smiled at her, now pulling her closer to him and cradling her against his chest. Turning around he started heading back in the direction he had come from. Their one-sided conversation mutually finished as he concentrated on not tripping from the added weight.

A few hours later the strange duo arrived in front of a large, well-lit house. Gawking at what was most likely the largest house she had ever seen, Emily now conveyed the same face a fish, with _very _red cheeks, would have.

Indigo eyes glanced down at the staring girl, a small chuckle bubbling up the person holding her's throat and past his lips.

The front door slammed open when they reached steps to reveal another male, though older and with facial hair.

"_Mon Petit Matthieu, _are you completely insane! There is a blizzard- who is that?"

He began to shout but the volume was quickly lowered when he noticed the small child in his sons arms. His shouting mixed with his stare effectively caused Emily to bury her face in '_Matthieu's' _chest once more.

"_Père_, you're scaring her, I'll explain after we get her inside and we're both warmed up!" The younger of the male's arms tightened around the girl who was currently burying her face in his chest.

Huffing the older one moved out of the way, still staring at the small bundle in his son's arms curiously.

"I just stoked the fire, so why don't you place her on the rug and we'll-"

He was cut-off as the smaller blond turned to him, a frown now in place,

"I'm not going to leave her on the _rug_, I was planning on giving her a nice, warm bath Francis."

At the word 'bath' Emily's previously closed eyes popped open. Struggling to break the tightened hold around her body she began to shout in broken English,

"No bath, no bath!"

Both males stared down at the previously docile child in shock, slightly scared from extreme mood swing.

"Come on... it's... not that... bad!" Matthieu, or _Matthew_ in English, grunted, fighting to hold onto the small girl.

"Maybe I should bathe her, no? I _am _better equipped to handle a rowdy child." The other man, Francis, stated, pressing his fingertips to his collarbone. He still continued to marvel at the challenge the girl was presenting his son with her attempts to break his hold.

"... I refuse to trust you with someone of the opposite gender no matter how young. Don't think I don't see the looks you give- ow, quit that!"

While Matthew was berating Francis, Emily seemed to realize that she couldn't break free using strength and resorted to biting his forearm. Francis chuckled, offering to take the child once again only to be shot down _once again_.

"Just -ow- go run the -ouch- water! Would you stop that! If I had know you would try to eat me I would have left you out in that blizzard!" Matthew ground out, eye twitching slightly as he watched Francis hurry up the stairs.

Emily froze, teeth still implanted in the arm she was currently gnawing on. Pulling away, she winced when she saw the teeth marks left in the poor man's arm. Guilt came crashing down on her as she moved back and relaxed against the left side of his chest.

"I sorry mister..." Emily whispered, her lower lip wobbling as she stared up at Matthew.

Matthew stared down at the small girl, shocked at the sudden mood change.

_I pity the poor bastard she winds up marrying when she's older..._

He sighed tiredly, glancing to side before looking at Emily again,

"Just... don't do that again alright?" He said, receiving a nod in reply.

"_Matthieu_, your bath is ready~ Will you be- oh, she stopped biting you," Francis sang out, prancing down the stair, "How did you manage to make her stop?"

"I... don't really know actually, I just mentioned leaving her out in the blizzard again and she stopped right away." Matthew muttered, still slightly shocked at Emily's sudden mood change.

"Well hurry up then! I only heated it to a bit past lukewarm so neither of you go in to shock and it will go cold soon!" Francis urged, clapping his hands twice.

"W-wait, you want us to bathe _together_?" Matthew was beginning to really question his Fathers sanity. This kid had just been _biting_ him and now he wanted him to _bathe _with her?

"Oh, don't be such a prude! She probably doesn't even know the difference! Chop, chop, now she won't be happy with you if it's cold when you two get in!" Francis exclaimed, getting behind Matthew and pushing him towards the stairs.

The shovee stumbled, uttering a few choice curses directed at his Father in his head, before ascending the stairs. Grumbling on the way up he turned left at the top, kicking the bathroom door open.

Setting Emily down, he turned around shutting and locking the door. Turning back around, Matthew jumped slightly when he saw Emily staring up at him with large green eyes.

"Come on now, you can't have a bath in your clothes, girl." He muttered, kneeling down grabbing the bottom hem of her dress. Upon receiving a small, but painful, slap to his left cheek which made him freeze in shock long enough for Emily to scramble away.

Blushing furiously she began to yell at him,

"No, no, bad mister, bad!" She shouted, jabbing a chubby finger at him with each word, almost in the same way one would yell at untrained dog.

Matthew twitched, cursing at his Father mentally once more,

_Apparently, she _does _know the difference between the genders!_

Looking at the glaring, and still blushing, girl in exasperation Matthew heaved a sigh. He could already feel an oh-so-painful migraine coming on.

Holding his hands up, palms facing outwards, Matthew backed away until his heels were pressed against the door,

"Alright, alright, you can undress yourself..." Matthew murmured, watching the girl carefully just in case she decided to attack him.

Emily huffed, her glare still in place as she pointed a finger towards the wall,

"The wall, the wall, face wall!" Emily grouched, an unsightly scowl on her lips.

Matthew groaned but complied with the little girl's demands. The rustling of clothing being removed and a splash was heard. Deeming it safe to turn around without having his eyes clawed out by a certain bi-polar brat, he saw the back of Emily's hunched figure sitting as far away from him as she could in the tub.

As quickly as he could Matthew slipped out of his clothes and climbed in to the opposite end. Grabbing a bar of soap while Emily grabbed the shampoo, both set to work on cleaning themselves to the best of their ability without going near the other.

Matthew jerked to side, scratching himself slightly, when humming started up at the other end of the bathtub. Staring at the girl's back with a shell-shocked expression, Matthew tried to wrap his head around this strange phenomenon.

_Is the girl who just slapped me, yelled at me like a dog and yelled at me again _humming_?_

Small hands and fingers worked a generous amount of shampoo in to thin, brown hair as Emily continued to hum with no apparent tune. Deeming her hair bubbly enough she began to lean back, only

to jerk back up when she remembered just _who _was behind her.

Blushing once again, Emily contemplated turning around and attempting to free her hair from it's bubbly prison that way but quickly trashed that idea. Her thoughts were quickly cut off when fingertips lightly collided with her scalp. Jerking forward until she almost sent herself over the curved rim of the bathtub, she quickly steadied herself. Twisting around to yell at her fellow Canadian, Emily gagged and wrinkled her nose when the taste of soap entered her still open mouth.

"I'm just going to help you wash your hair then I won't touch you again, alright?" Taking her silence as a form of consent he turned her around once again and began to lean her back. Emily jerked and hit her hands against the water when she felt her head and shoulders getting closer to Matthew,

"Calm down, I'm just leaning you back so I can wash the shampoo out of your hair." He said softly, not wanting to upset the small girl anymore than she already was. Emily stopped fussing but still remained tense.

A small silence settled between them as Matthew continued to scoop up and drop water on Emily's hair.

"Why you do this?"

Blinking at the young girl's question, Matthew tried to decipher just _what _Emily was talking about.

"Um, well, you obviously weren't going to be able to wash it yourself-" He jumped slightly as he was cut off by Emily's small fist colliding with the water.

"No! Why... why you help me?" Her voice softened to nearly a whisper as the sentence continued on.

" ... I couldn't just leave a child lying in the snow, especially not during a blizzard!" Matthew huffed, as though Emily had just accused him being a heartless bastard.

"I no die anyway... and I be in worse!" She said, hitting her fist against the water once more, which in turn made her flinch when some water landed on her face.

"What do you mean you can't die?"

"I live very long time... and I no age..." Emily muttered sadly, and when Matthew looked down he saw that she was frowning with small tears beginning to gather at the edges of her eyes, "I no get it!"

She shouted, anger and confusion flashing in her eyes as she slammed her tiny fists against, instead of the water, her knees.

Now it was Matthew's turn to frown, vaguely wondering if she was like him or maybe... something far beyond that.

"I think we're done in here. Stay here and close yours eyes while I get out and grab some towels."

Emily glanced at him, glaring at him slightly for ordering her around, but obediently closed her eyes.

"Alright, now turn around and get out."

She turned around and fully got out after seeing that Matthew had his eyes closed and his head turned to side. Quickly tugging the towel he was holding out towards her out of his hands and wrapping it around her body, half of it dragging on the ground from her short stature, she continued to stare up at the male.

Unlocking the door and stepping out after checking to make sure Francis wasn't anywhere in the nearby vicinity. As Emily quickly followed the man that was easily twice her height, she glanced around, finally noticing how lavishly everything was decorated.

Cocking an eyebrow at the gaudy decor, she tripped and slammed in to Matthew's lower legs, who managed to somehow stay on his feet. Though he did have to swing his arms in a windmill motion to stay balanced.

Cursing inwardly at her clumsiness, Emily quickly wrapped her towel around her body again. Glancing around suspiciously, Emily jumped when she heard a door creak open. Looking up she noticed that Matthew had merely opened a door leading in to a large bedroom.

"None of the other rooms are clean enough for a guest to stay in, so you will have to sleep with me tonight, is that alright?" Judging by the glare she was sending him Matthew guessed not. She followed him in to the room none-the-less though.

"I don't really have any female sleepwear so a shirt will have to do, okay?" Emily's glare softened slightly so he decided to take it as a yes.

Walking over to his dresser Matthew decided to find something for her first and opened the bottom drawer, keeping one hand on the towel wrapped around his waist lest a _very _awkward moment arise. Rifling through the large amount of old shirts, that he had long since out-grown, he finally found a shrunken, ruffled one that Francis had given him long ago. It had shrunk when he left it out sun to long, and no longer fit across his shoulders.

"Here you go, it should fit you since I wore it during my childhood." Matthew stated, holding the shirt out as he closed his eyes.

Eyeing the ruffles distastefully, Emily grabbed the shirt, only dropping her towel after double-checking to make sure Matthew eyes were closed, and slipping her arms through the correct holes. She stared down at the buttons, never having to do them up before.

"Do you need help with the buttons?"

Receiving a blank stare and Emily holding her arms up to show that more than half of the sleeves went past her fingertips, Matthew decided that, yes, she did need help with the buttons.

Humming, he knelt down again, pausing as he waited for the same slap he received in the bathroom to collide with his cheek again. Perplexed when no stinging erupted in his cheek he peeked open one of his eyes, only to see Emily staring at him in confusion,

"You help?"

He released a slightly hysterical chuckle, partially ashamed that he was frightened by a girl who looked like she hadn't even hit puberty yet. Shaking his head he began to do up the buttons, politely keeping his eyes averted to her shoulder.

"Alright, that's the last one!" After concluding it was quicker he simply left the last three unbuttoned, since that part just dragged on the floor, " Now please go crawl in to bed and cover your eyes because I need to get dressed too."

Emily nodded and speed-walked towards the bed, automatically crawling in when she reached the edge and burrowing in to the small mountain of blankets covering the mattress. She feel asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, that blizzard had taken a lot out of her.

Getting dressed in to his usual night clothes, Matthew sighed, smiling when he realized that his migraine had ebbed away slightly.

When he lifted up that blankets to lie down as well, he was rather put-off to see Emily's face completely relaxed. He could have sworn that childish glare would still be there, even in her sleep.

Feeling even more at ease that the apparently human attack dog wouldn't punch him out when he crawled in, Matthew slipped under the covers. Trying to stay as far away from the kid as he could with out falling off the edge, he nearly had a heart attack when a small hand gripped his shirt.

Emily figured that the bed wasn't nearly warm enough with only her body heat and decided to steal it from someone else. When Matthew crawled in, deeming him sufficiently warm, she used her hand and his shirt to drag herself close enough to curl in to his right side. Placing her head at the top of his ribcage, she adjusted her position until most of the weight was on her left shoulder before fully relaxing.

It felt incredibly odd to Matthew when he someone as small and young as Emily curled in to side, but he gradually relaxed when he realized that she wouldn't wake up and bite his arm off.

Reaching his arm around to help support her back, he jumped when a small hand smacked his hand lightly.

"Bad mister..." Emily grumbled drowsily, furrowing her eyebrows as she dug her head further in to his side.

_Even in her sleep she gets mad at me... it's a freaking miracle!_

Matthew thought, gawking at the small girl. Releasing a single, hysterical chuckle, he shook his head as he laid back. Carefully making sure that his arms weren't touching Emily in any way while he did so.

Letting a happy groan past his lips as his back fully relaxed in to the soft mattress Matthew's thoughts wandered back to their short conversation in the bath. Yawning as he closed his eyes, he dismissed his current thoughts,

_I'll talk to France about it tomorrow..._

Finally slipping in to the blissful arms of sleep his mind went blank...

"_... Where was France anyway?_

"_I think he was trying to put the moves on one of the maids actually."_

_..._

"_She should have castrated the sick bastard..."_

"Emily_!" _

"_What, it's the truth!"_


End file.
